


Servant of Time

by Biskette



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-05 04:18:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4165533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biskette/pseuds/Biskette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John is a wizard. He lives in Prospit, the Kingdom of the Fields. The only problem with this is wizardry in any sense is unacceptable and very much frowned upon. After his father passes away John ventures with his sister, Jade, to Derse, the Kingdom of the Mountains. He hopes to be able to learn more about magic than he was ever able to in Prospit. Until he meets Dave. John instantly thinks of him as an arrogant ass that needs to tone down the narcissism, like 50 notches. By some sick twist of fate Dave requests for John to become his new manservant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heir: Meet the Knight

Heir: Meet the Knight

The stocks are the worst place to be. People throw rotten fruit right at your face and then you end up smelling like said fruit for the next week and a half. Its just not the best experience in the world. That just so happens to be where I am, at the moment. I swear it was an accident. I did not mean to knock the red-eyed prince flat on his ass using magic. Okay maybe I did a little bit, but he's overreacting! You can't just throw someone in the stocks because you couldn't keep your footing with a bucket on your foot. Well him being the Prince, then yeah I guess he can. He deserved it though! He was picking on a young page and I didn't just want to stand by and let that happen so I stopped him. Not the brightest thing that I've ever done but it certainly wasn't the dumbest. That was when my sister, Jade and I were goofing off and I decided it would be great to see how the entire Kingdom of Prospit would look when no one had their left shoe. But that's a story for another time.

After a few hours of standing in the stocks while my "fans" threw fruit at my head, I was finally being released. My caretaker for while I was here in Derse had been able to convince the King to be lenient on my punishment since I was "young" and "prone to dumb ideas".

I trudged through the darkening, crowded streets. The scenery here on Derse seemed to have a recurring color scheme of dark purple the same way that Prospit had gold. It wasn't hard to get lost in your thoughts when it's too dark to look at anything interesting that might be around. I found myself thinking about the Prince's panicked face as he fell backwards into a fruit stall. Honestly, it was priceless to see his confused face when I actually bested him in a fight. It wasn't long before I reached the small cottage where I would be staying while I was here. It may have been small but it was cozy and had everything that we needed. It was a bit cluttered with books on a whole bunch of different subjects. Yet, somehow, my guardian always knew exactly where everything was. Probably magic if I'm being honest with myself.

"Ow! That's one hell of a welcome back." I shrieked as I was hit upside the head by my guardian.

"It's your second day in Derse and in my care and you've already challenged the youngest Prince to a duel and used magic, that is prohibited, against him in order to win. Gadzooks boy! At this rate you'll be burned by the end of the week."

"No one saw that I used magic, Jake. Everything's fine, and I doubt the Prince would be able to tell when magic is used against him."

"You don't give the royal family enough credit. I know them personally and have for many years, and I can honestly say that they are some of the most intelligent people I have ever met." He'd been working for the royal family for the last 5 years as their medical adviser of sorts.

"Are you sure that trait didn't skip over the youngest? I've heard about that happening."

"John." He warned giving me a glare that was like having a bow and arrow aimed at you.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry and it won't happen again." I held my hands up in mock surrender which caused Jake to roll his eyes and me to laugh.

"Come on. Get that rotten fruit out of your hair." He chuckled motioning to a tub of fresh water. I leaned over it and began picking out the chunks of fruit and tossing them into a separate tub and rinsing the juice out of my hair. "Dinner is on the table when you're ready. I've already eaten so don't worry about me." He finished climbing the ladder to a loft area that he'd claimed as his study. I did as I was told and soon enough tiredness slapped me across the face with a fish and I was asleep.

It was dark. Not the same comforting dark of your bedroom after everyone had went to sleep but there would still be warm light streaming through your window that comforted you. It was the kind of dark that seemed suffocating and made you believe that everything you've ever been told about monsters not being real was complete bull. A sudden light stopped you from thinking about what lurked in the dark for to long. The bright blue light split into two. One gold and the other purple, it took the shape of what looked like two young men. The gold boy knelled down as if he were pledging his allegiance to the purple boy. The gold boy then stood and faced him as an equal looking into the purple boy's eyes and not down at the ground like any other servant would have. As suddenly as the light had came in the first place, the scene switched. It depicted the boy in gold once again only he was facing the boy in purple and it almost looked as if they were laughing with each other. The scene switched again. The lights were on what seemed to be a battlefield. Both sides of the battle charged each other and all at once everything became red.


	2. Heir: Become a Manservant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a version of this that I also wrote and posted on Wattpad under the name Witch_of_Hearts, just kinda an FYI. Please tell me if you're enjoying this story so far and I am open to constructive criticism. Hope you like it!

John woke up with a start and quickly sat up, maybe a bit too quickly because his vision just got blurry. "Holy hell," He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He looked around, trying to determine what time it was; there was a small bit of light that was streaming in the window so it must be around 6. He stretched his arms above his head and got out of bed to stretch his legs. 

"Jake? Have you left already or are you still sleeping?" He called into the small house. Jake grumbled from underneath this blanket. You'd expect him to be a morning person with how cheerful he usually is but mornings aren't really his forte.

"I'll take that as you are still sleeping." John chuckled and went to cut him and Jake each a slice of bread as well as some fruit. 

Jake was awake a few moments later and nearly looked like the walking dead with how his hair was cast over his face and the way he was shuffling his feet over the floor. He sat down and slumped his head against the small table that his food sat on. "Do I have to go to work today?" He mumbled.

"Probably. It's kind of necessary, so that you know we can eat and live." John replied. He was the opposite of Jake in the morning and actually quite liked the feeling of having a completely new day ahead of him. 

"Ugh, yeah I know." He lifted his head and grabbed an apple and bit into it, just as there was a knock on the door, Jake looked over at John confusedly, "Expecting someone?"

John shook his head and Jake got and attempted to tame his hair a little bit before answering the door. He opened the door and was faced with a man that was a bit taller than him in a purple, royal looking, outfit. He had blonde hair and pale skin with a pair of stunning orange eyes. Jake instantly recognized him as the oldest prince. The royal was always given a manservant or a maid at the age of 13. Jake just happened to be this prince's manservant, and has been for about 5 years now. "M-morning Your Highness. What brings you here today?" Jake asked.

"Jake. I have told you multiple times that I prefer when you call me Dirk. We've been friends for five years, I think it's time to drop the "Highness"." Dirk said raising an eyebrow.

"R-right, Dirk." Jake blushed, embarrassed to have forgotten.

Dirk clapped him on the shoulder. "That's better." Dirk gave him a small smile to reassure Jake that he wasn't angry. "Anyway I need to speak to your cousin here about what happened yesterday." Dirk turned his gaze away from Jake and to John.

John's heart was racing and his stomach dropped, this was not supposed to happen. They were not supposed to have found out about his magic, at least not this quickly. 

"I-I uh um-" He stuttered trying to find something to say.

"Dave has actually taken quite the liking to your wit, and even your bravery for calling him out on being a prat," Dirk said walking over to John and crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at him, "And since his old manservant just quit, he's requested for you to be his manservant."

'What?' John thought to himself, he must have looked confused since Dirk continued to speak.

"Yeah, I was surprised as well until he gave a few reasons. You don't have to be but I have to say that we are fairly good payers and I've been told that you need a job." Dirk finished.

John shot a glare in Jake's direction but it went unnoticed due to the fact that Jake had his back turned and was getting dressed.

"I guess that I could try it? I won't be killed if I quit, right?"

"I don't think Dave would let you get killed." Dirk said blatantly before calling over to Jake and telling him to bring me with him to work so that I could 'get to know' Dave.

It didn't take long for them to both get ready and soon they were out of the door and headed to the palace that was placed close to the back of the area of the kingdom. The palace was huge and both Derse and Prospit had the castle's back against a large mountain that deterred enemies and made both kingdoms the safest in the entire land of Skaia. It's a bit confusing. Before Derse or Prospit there was a huge kingdom where everyone dwelled but during a Civil War the kingdom was split into Derse and Prospit, which is why the kingdoms tend to be at odds with each other. Skaia was abandoned but still stands, though it is prohibited and neither Dersites or Prosptians can go there without explicit permission from both of the kingdom's rulers.

John was led by Jake into the castle and through multitudes of corridors before they stopped at one of the doors and knocked. Dirk quickly opened the door and moved out of the way to reveal a room that had a few seats for Dave and John to properly meet. "Please be nice." Jake hissed in John's ear. John nodded and went to sit across from the person he'd picked a fight with just yesterday. 

"Sorry about what happened yesterday, Sire." John said looking down at his feet nervously.

"Don't worry about it, I was being a bit of an ass to that Page." Dave admitted looking over at John with as good of posture as he could, he was trying to be more proper.

John looked up at him and smiled brightly over at Dave.

'Oh fuck.' Was the only thought that went through Dave's mind as his stomach flopped at seeing that goofy grin on John's pale face.


	3. Heir: Actually Spend Time With The Knight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and John finally interact! Hopefully without snarky comments from John that are bound to start a fight.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, why the hell did I ask for him to be my manservant? Oh right, Rose. She had to fucking tell me about a vague prophecy that's supposed to involve this dork with buck teeth and messy hair and how he's supposed to be the one to help me unlock my full potential. What is that even supposed to mean? Oh fuck, he's staring at me. Have I even greeted him yet? Okay, don't be weird about this.' He thought to himself frantically. 

"Morning, Egbert." He said with a smirk. 'Fucking nailed it.' 

"Morning, Sire. What am I expected to do as your manservant?" John asked trying to keep this from being awkward. 

"Clean my armor, as well as my room, you're supposed to run my baths in the morning and wake me up as well as getting me breakfast and just about anything else that I decide to have you do." He responded. "Let's take a look around the castle. Wouldn't want you to get lost in the castle, now would we?" He stood from the couch he was sitting on and waited for John to get up as well. Once he had they headed out into a long corridor, that served as a hallway to many different rooms for whenever the King had guests at the castle, which was quite often. They went to the ground floor and Dave pointed out things like the kitchen and royal dining area. "You will be expected to be by my side at all times unless I tell you otherwise." He said. Dave led them out into the area where the knights often trained. "This is the area where I will train with my knights, after I am finished training you will be expected to clean my armor and shine it as well. You will have to sharpen my weapons and make sure they are in shape." They then heard loud cheering coming from the direction of the execution block. 

"Shit." Dave said before taking off running towards the sound. John went after him confused. It was exactly what Dave had expected it to be. 

"Sire? What's going on?" John asked a bit panicked. 

"You see that female knight with the heavy armor? That's Vriska. She's been after a supposed "witch" for about a month now and I think she finally caught her in the act. Witchcraft of any sort is punishable by death in Derse." Dave explained calmly. "The witch's name is Aradia." Dave's voice faded away as John spaced out. 

John had recognized the name. Aradia was one of the members of Jade's new coven. John scanned the crowd anxiously as he look for any sight of Jade. 

"Are you even listening?" Dave asked punching John's arm lightly to get his attention. 

"Oh, uh yeah sorry. It's just that it seems a bit ridiculous to take one knights opinion to sentence someone to death. Isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess. I can't really stop it. Vriska's held a grudge against Aradia ever since they were kids. It's not surprising that Vriska would try to have her killed." Dave said, his expression was completely unreadable.

"But- What happened to proper trails?"

"My dad hates magic. Always has. Any mention of it and he'll go off the handle and kill whoever is accused, just so that he doesn't risk anything." Dave scowled a bit as he spoke. He knew it was completely unfair but he really couldn't really say anything to his father about it, without being accused of being a traitor. Even he had to admit that his dad was borderline insane. 

"Oh." That was the only thing that John could think to say. 

There was a burst of cold laughter that came from the accused witch. She spoke in a calm voice. "You won't get away with killing me without a trial. On the words of a vengeful Hunter that couldn't care less about if I was actually a witch or not. You will be plagued with my spirit until the end of your days." She spat, sending a glare in the direction of Vriska, the knight that had accused her. "And you. King Jack. To take the word of a petty Bounty Hunter as opposed to your court. Pathetic." Vriska looked at her and glared back with a demented smirk plastered on her face. It made John want to crawl under a rock and hide from this entire kingdom.

The King gave a signal and the sticks that surrounded Aradia were lit and within a few seconds there were screams of pain as the fire licked around Aradia's legs. John had to look away from the scene to keep himself from vomiting. It was sickening and so were the screams that came from Aradia. He hoped that Jade wasn't around to see this. 

"You okay?" Dave asked John as he saw him go pale at the screams. Dave even had to fight against showing any emotion as he heard the screams. 

John shook his head. "Not really. I'm not exactly used to this kind of thing."

Dave nodded and nudged John. "Let's go back inside. There's a room in the castle that the screams can never reach." He said guiding John up a spiraling staircase that led into on of the many towers in the castle. The screams faded the farther that they went up the stairs. They soon reached the top of the staircase and Dave opened the door with a key that was around his neck. The room wasn't very big but there was enough room for seating and a lot of blankets. "I used to come here a lot when I was younger and the executions were more frequent. It's a nice place. Especially now that I'm the only one with a key to it." He smiled a bit at the key. 

"Uh, thanks. Can I sit?" John asked hovering in the doorway as Dave took a seat. 

"Feel free." Dave said motioning to the multiple seats that occupied the room.

John moved to sit across from Dave. "So does this still happen a lot?"

"Not too much anymore. It was worse when Dirk and I were younger. We're not really sure why."

"Well, at least you had this room." John said trying to be positive.

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Dave said, he appreciated that John could look at things positively.

Hours passed and they continued to talk until it would be the end of the John's first day of being a manservant. "Don't forget to wake me up, tomorrow. 5 in the morning." Dave said at the door to his sleeping chamber. "Don't forget breakfast either. Jake should be in the main hall I believe." he said before waving John off and heading into his chamber. 

John made his way to the main hall and soon found Jake. He must have been waiting for him since Dirk went to sleep. "Jake." John greeted with a small wave.

"Ello John! Ready to head home?"

John nodded tiredly.

"So how was your first day?"

"Not as bad as I had expected it to be, but the royal family is hard to figure out. I mean there's the King who just seems crazy and then Dirk who seems like he knows everything about you, and Dave who is just different. He puts on a facade around his knights and then it slips away in private. Is it bad that I'm actually looking forward to spending more time with him?"

Jake chuckled. "The Striders sure are a wacky bunch at times. I can assure you that you won't like spending time with him tomorrow at training with the knights tomorrow."

John groans a bit as they walked the rest of the way back to their small house. Jake made them something to eat as soon as they got inside and within an hour Jake was sleeping and John lay awake. He was worried about the next day and he was worried about what would happen if he were to be found out by anyone in the royal family. It terrified him. John found himself falling asleep to the thoughts of the next day and the rest of the days that he would spend working with the Dersite royal family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so Jack is the King because Bro didn't really fit the part for this story but bear with me here all will be explained eventually. Thanks to everyone who has read this so far! Don't forget to leave a comment and a kudos! See you guys next update! <3


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